General Cycling Discussion - Should I stay in the middle of the road?

My roads are gravel roads. The middle is the most packed part of the road. The outer side is looser sand like gravel. The sandy parts make my bike go slow. There was a car that was coming towards me so I went to the right and almost lost control because of the loose gravel. My mirror is useless because it moves down if I hit one bump. Should I just get better mirrors and move to the right only when I see somebody behind me?

My neighbor was riding on the bus and the bus passed me but she said I was riding in the middle of the road, I think I was in the right but not on the edge. I couldnt hear that bus cause of two dogs chasing me barking down the hill and the wind.

geez, you need to get a better mirror. I have a Blackburn mirror, which is convex, to give a wide angle view, and it mounts with a Velcro strap, so I can wiggle it back into adjustment, while moving.

Really, you have to get out of the way of any bus. A bus is as big as a truck, and I always get out of the way of trucks, too.

So get a better mirror. Ride in the middle of the road when you can, but pull over to let other vehicles go by.

Where are you located, by the way? what's the name of the road? I'm surprised a bus would use a gravel road.

Wewoka,oklahoma. It was a school bus. By pulling over do you mean riding to the far right of the road? I could probably learn to ride better on the right . Do you think those walmart mirrors are good enough?

Generally speaking, Wal-Mart makes its money by degrading quality. I wouldn't bet my safety on anything they sell.

Ride as far right as is practicable - which may well mean that you will be in the middle of the road. You don't need a mirror - each vehicle operator is responsible for avoiding traffic in front of them, and paying attention to what is behind you is secondary. If there are cars parked along the side of the road, do not ride so close to the cars that you could be hit by a door which is swung open in your path, and if the lane is not wide enough to allow a passing car to pass you with adequate clearance within the lane, then you should make this clear by moving to the left, towards the center of the lane to make this clear to higher speed passing traffic.
If the road surface is not good on the edge of the road, that is another good reason to avoid that part of the road surface.

I wouldnt ride without a glasses mount mirror. The Third Eye gave the best view, but I broke too many (plastic). I now use the Take-a-look. It allows you to be constantly aware of what is behind and by shifting your head you can cope with curves in the road.

Wewoka,oklahoma. It was a school bus. By pulling over do you mean riding to the far right of the road? I could probably learn to ride better on the right . Do you think those walmart mirrors are good enough?

Here's how the mirror is positioned on my handlebars, Note that it attaches to the END of the handlebar, so I can see around myself. The mirror is on the LEFT end of the handlebar, and in this view, you can see the corner of a ceiling light fixture in the mirror:
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/hotbike/23_21A.jpg
( I have a white plastic box for a handlebar basket).

Here is the mirror off the bike, you can see the Velcro strap. In this photo, the mirror is dark, on account I didn't catch the light in it (it was a flash photograph, and made everything else look darker):
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/hotbike/photo_0022-1.jpg

As for lane position, you could ride in the middle of the road, but pull over -and STOP- if a bus is behind you. After the bus goes by, check the mirror again, and if there are no cars coming, pull out and start riding in the middle of the road again. That's how I would handle it. I wouldn't trust the soft gravel at the side of the road- there might be a big rock buried in the loose gravel, which could pitch you in a different direction.

I will look at the Google Maps view of Wewoka, OK, and if I see anything, I'll post an additional reply.

As I said, I use a Blackburn mirror, which is wide angle. I would not trust a flat mirror.

New mirror would be good but you have to ride where you feel safe. Perhaps more knobbly tyres will help too?

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=wewoka&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Wewoka,+Seminole,+Oklahoma&ll=35.09334,-96.589587&spn=0.005118,0.011319&t=h&z=17

My house is at the center of that map.

You need a bike like this:
http://www.cannondale.com/usa/usaeng/Products/Bikes/Mountain/All-Mountain/Moto/Details/1268-0VB5-Moto-5

Roads? Feh! ;)

I use this Third Eye mirror (http://www.3rd-eye.com/(03).htm) on the visor of my helmet. It doesn't seem to move much, but I can pretty easily adjust it while on the move. Can't order it from the website, have to find a retailer. I bought my current on at my LBS and my last on from Nashbar, but they don't seem to be stocking it currently.